I don’t know how, but the other week, when was I trying to introduce the world to some of the ways those crustaceans we call amphipods have adapted to life on earth, I missed perhaps the coolest example of all. Phronima is an amphipod that builds itself a house from the remains of another animal.

Thankfully, other people done a much better job of celebrating these animals than I might have. Matthew Cobb wrote an article on them for Why Evolution is True, focusing especially on the salp whose body is stolen to form Phronima‘s house (you may be surprised to learn how closely related salps are to us). Mike Bok wrote a post about Phronimaand the (perfectly plausible) idea that this creature was an inspiration for the design of the queen from Aliens. Finally, a clip from the extraordinarily awesome Plankton Chronicles series lets you see what I’ve been going on about with your own eyes:

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